Lest I Forget

I just got back from my great uncle’s funeral. I didn’t know him that well.. but going to someone’s funeral is a great way to get to know them.

It just so turns out that he was an amazing man of God who touched hundreds, if not thousands, of lives.. in his quiet, Christ-like, way. Wow. I would have never guessed.. and I think that is the point. I am always looking for the flashy, parting-of-the-seas sort of Christianity. He was an amazing example, but hardly anyone knew it until his funeral… everyone just saw a tiny bit of it here and there as he humbly served his community.

The pastor read a letter he had written and one thing really jumped out at me. My great uncle was struggling with cancer (which he recovered from and then later died of a heart attack) and he saw some Christmas special on TV.. it was talking about how with all the “Hell” in this world (death, disease, hatred, etc.).. it is our job to be “Heaven on Earth”. While this may elicit some groans.. I thought it was pretty beautiful in the context of life spent doing just that.

Unfortunately, the pastor then rambled on after that for an hour. What better sermon is there then hearing about Christ living through someone’s life? Why not just leave it at that?

Anyway. I look forward to getting to know him better in the hereafter.

In honor of Micheal Crichton.. who recently died.. I think everyone should read this article. Don’t let the title fool you.. he doesn’t really believe that “Aliens Cause Global Warming”. In short, he argues that science is losing it’s path in this world.. it’s becoming increasingly biased and political. He challenges what he calls the “consensus” and gives many many examples where the “consensus” has been wrong in the past. And now, if you disagree with the consensus.. you are branded a scientific heretic. Of course, he is an author of fiction and not a scientist himself. But, I think it should give people a slight pause and allow everyone to take a collective deep breath.

We have far too much fear in our lives.. the president, the environment, the climate, the economy, oil, war, etc. etc. etc. It’s ridiculous.

UPDATE: Wow, what timing.. I just checked the news after writing this and saw this article: http://www.dailyexpress.co.uk/posts/view/69623 … burn him at the stake!

I have a feeling that I am going to have to put up with four years of “I told you so” from many friends and relatives. So, I would like to lay this out one more time and be done with it.

1) Not the Anti-Christ. I shouldn’t even have to say this. And even if he was? Hey, that’s good news.. because that means we are just one step closer to Armageddon. Bring it on.

2) Not a Muslim. And even if he was.. so what? What is he going to do.. bust out a suicide vest on inauguration day? Seriously? Are we going to wake up one day with Sharia Law in place? No. We have checks and balances in our country.. Congress.. the Supreme Court.. I am not worried about it. If he is a Muslim.. he still has my vote.

3) Taxes are going to kill the economy. No they won’t.. and if that were true why do a vast vast majority of the professional economists think that he is going to be better for the economy then McCain? What do you know that they don’t? Why did the stock market shoot up today if it was afraid of an Obama win. While, I don’t think taxing the economy is a good idea… I am willing to give the economists a chance to be wrong. Obama has surrounded himself with some very smart people.. I think we should try something different..

4) Abortion. What are you doing to help support young mothers? Did you know that 90% of women who have ultrasounds and see their baby don’t get an abortion? Maybe you shouldn’t worry so much about what the federal government is doing when we do so little ourselves.

5) Socialism/Big Government. McCain/Palin plan on using money from successful (energy) companies to pay for things. They plan on bailing out people who gambled on risky mortgages. So, you don’t like Obama but is the alternative better? Do you really know what your voting for? And Palin.. if she can’t even stand up Katie Couric how will she do with the likes of Amademajad?

I have yet to meet an actual McCain supporter.. the only people who I talk to who aren’t voting for Obama is because they are scared of Obama. Fear seems to be the only motivation. When I talk to Obama supporters they are passionate and articulate about why they think he will be a good president. I get excited for them.. I really hope he is all they hoped for. I also feel sorry for them because I know that government is not our savior.

Besides.. the Republicans had their chance.. Bush had a Republican congress.. and how well did that turn out for us? Yeah, not so good. The system has spoken… checks and balances.. for every Jimmy Carter there is a Reagan.. and for every GW there is an Obama. This is how it works.. and at the end of the day.. it’s still in God’s hands and He still loves us.

One last thing.. I was listening to the radio the other day.. and a black lady was saying that for the first time she will be able to tell her kids that they could be whatever they wanted when they grow up.. and really mean it. I want to be apart of that.

This has been and extremely difficult choice for me. I have friends and family on both sides of the fence… both sides have good arguments and I almost always agree with everyone. And, it would seem that if I vote for McCain some people will think that I am a Bush-loving warmonger who loves torturing people and that I personally ruined the economy… however, if I vote for Obama then I am pretty much a pinko communist who thinks that we should all give our money to the government for redistribution.. oh yeah, and I like killing babies in my spare time.

So.. which is it? Do I want to be a hate filled warmonger? Or do I want to be a baby-eating communist?

Okay.. let me walk through this. First of all we have taxes. Everyone is promising me tax breaks but Obama wants to tax the rich.. i.e. everyone making over 250k. I think this is a pretty terrible idea. Two words: “Jimmy Carter”. And actually.. I don’t need tax breaks.. I don’t think anyone should. I don’t think there is any reason why anyone should be paying taxes.. if you give enough away you get enough tax breaks to come out even. If you are paying a lot of taxes.. trying giving it away so it doesn’t go into the bureaucracy.

Iraq war. Well Obama was right for opposing this mess.. but his “withdraw at any cost” is complete foolishness. What would we do.. leave a note for the Iraqis on the way out? “Sorry for the mess.. best of luck”. Thankfully he changed his tune on this.

Abortion. Sorry folks, abortion isn’t going away. (Though, I have no comprehension of “pro choice”. As I put it in my high school debate: “I am pro choice. If I choose to have sex then I run the risk of having an unwanted pregnancy. The choice has been made.”) After jumping off a cliff you can’t stop half way and say “Hey, this isn’t fair, I didn’t choose to hit the ground.” This isn’t rocket science. Obviously it gets a bit more complicated.. i.e. when women don’t choose to have sex but someone else makes that decision for them.. Anyway, abortion is not a huge topic for me. It’s not going away. I do not think this should be a deciding factor in this election.

Sarah Palin. I am sorry, she just doesn’t strike me a being “presidential”… she seems to be a female George Jr. I have nothing against her personally.. she could be another Truman as my dad pointed out. But.. I just don’t want to go there.. and with a president in his mid seventies.. there is a reasonable chance she could be president. I don’t really want a “Joe SixPack” president.

The world. The Economist has been polling the rest of the world and who they would elect .. they chose Obama.. with about 99% of the votes. However, I typically disagree with the rest of the world..

Economics. Well, I have seen two polls of economists.. both overwhelming agree that Obama’s the man for the job. Not to mention the fact that the Economist.. the magazine has pretty much endorsed him.. which is odd since they are typically anti-regulation free marketeers.

Campaign. I just don’t like the McCain campaign.. at all. It has been nasty and seems reliant on fear mongering. McCain himself was nasty during the last debate.. his whole demeanor towards Barack was ugly. While Barack was cool, calm, and collected.. McCain was rolling his eyes and guffawing. I would have happily chose McCain over Bush in 2000. But that ship has sailed… the McCain of 2008 is unpleasant at best.

The “Big Government” argument. Have you been paying attention? Have you seen what Bush and the Republican congress did? Did Government spending shrink? Were budgets balanced? Laws repealed? Freedoms restored? National debt? Have you seen McCain’s plan to fix everything? Buying expensive mortgages.. stealing “wind fall profits” from oil companies.. handing out checks.. increasing government spending. I am sorry, but the old “Republican = smaller government” argument just doesn’t stand anymore. What you’re looking for is “Libertarian”.

Race. I hate to say it, but this country needs a black president. Hopefully it will put to rest this whole racism thing. If Obama isn’t elected cries of racism will be heard around the world… and sadly, they will partially be right. I have been shocked by some of the interviews I have heard on NPR. Not just race.. but many people are convinced that he secretly has a bomb strapped to his chest. It’s unbelievable.

Hollywood. A huge red flag for me. Every time I see celebrity endorse Obama it makes me want to turn around and run the other way.

I have some serious reservations about Obama. I strongly disagree with him on a lot of things.. but in the end, I think he is what our country needs right now. He is a breath of fresh air.. and in a few years.. when people realize he isn’t the savior maybe people will stop trying to place their faith in our Government.

And.. I like the guy… I like his heart, from what I have seen of it. McCain is showing himself to be a grumpy old curmudgeon. I just wish we could try him out for a year and see how it goes.

Oh, and another one. If McCain is elected he won’t be able to do anything with a Democrat supermajority in congress.

And.. technology.. I am a big tech guy and my livelyhood depends on the tech industry. I am a big fan of Obama’s use of technology and his idea of appointing a CTO for the gov’t is great.

.. if only we could just try him out for a year or so. Oh well, 4yrs isn’t too long… he can’t make things too much worse.

… all badass beast.

I think we are going with “Remington”.. after the beloved firearms manufacturer. “Remy” for short.. get it? Remy the Rat? Ratatouille? Whatever.

Remy the RatDog.

UPDATE: Why is a Rat Terrier called a Rat Terrier (Hint: it’s not because they look like rats.) Answer: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat-baiting  … fun for the whole family.

My daughter Emily.. at 5.. has already mastered more of the English language then most pre-teens.

Here is some of her IMings she sent me:

i luv yoo (I love you)
win yoo cum hom iwont (when you come home I want too..)
yootooreslwithme (you to wrestle with me)
i luv evrethengtheatgodmad (I love everything that God made)
i wont ooplaawtsid (I want to play outside)
i luvladebugs (I love ladybugs)
i tisasuneda (It is a sunny day)
soitisnotaraneda (so it is not a rainy day)
i luv thefents (I love the fence)
i wontoogitanoopusidi (I want to go get a new Poseidon (fish))
andwerginugitanoopusidin (and we are going to get a new Poseidon)
ritnaw (right now)
winethinwacsup (when Ethan wakes up)
evrethengloxvebyooduflawtsid (everything looks beautiful outside)
andi luevrethengawtsid (and I love everything outside)
i luv mui hlfl mule (I love my whole family)
i tisnotveresmrresumrreinemor (it is not very summery any more)
i emtirduvtocentyoosoimgoentoolaonthecawchnawimgoentoolaonthecawch (I am tired of sending you so I am going to go and lie on the couch, now I am going to go lie on the couch)

I have been thinking about value a lot lately. Especially in light of the economic upheaval we seem to be in. So.. what makes something valuable? The market economy started when people began trading things.. mostly foods.. one farmer grows corn.. another grows carrots.. then they trade. Then, some cultures introduced other things into the mix.. such as services.. and then shiny rocks, IOUs (money), etc. One culture I can think of carved rocks into discs.. the bigger the disc, the more valuable it was. They started making some very very large stone circle thingys. Suddenly, people were trading things that were useful for things (food/services) for things that were not useful for anything.. what does gold do for you when you are hungry? The only thing gold has going for it is the fact that everyone seems to want it. But why? It’s just a shiny metal?

So, here we are in 2008… we all decided that houses were the very best way for people to make money so houses became so ridiculously valuable it didn’t matter what it took to get a house.. it was always a safe bet. It wasn’t. It’s quite possible that we.. as a culture… are going to have to evaluate the meaning of value.

The bigger picture: I often struggle with the value of humanity in general. Why would God be interested in the equivalent of space bacteria. We are just dust, in a dust cloud, floating on a speck of dust. Nothing.. less then nothing. We kill each other over shiny rocks. If I were on omnipotent being I would probably take more joy in watching our little planet cook off in the sun then waste my time with humanity. New stars and planets are being made every second (probably every millisecond or less) in this universe.

But then I look at my children. They are getting somewhat useful now.. especially the bigger one… but the value I place in them is ridiculous. They are WAY over valued. I would give absolutely anything for any one of my children. Talk about inflation. They went from being worth nothing.. to being worth billions too me. In and of themselves? Small bags of cells/tissue/etc… incapable survival in the wild.. nope. Not too much value there. But to me.. priceless.

When my parents say things like that to me.. it’s hard to understand. And that is probably why we struggle with God so much.. it’s hard to believe that God could possibly be interested in us space dust. And that is also probably why he had to speak our language. I can tell you that I love my children, but until you see me suffer a slow agonizing death for them.. what more could I do?

So, I think we are in this economic mess because of the Dutch.. they seem to have invented economic hysteria back in 1637. But, it wasn’t houses back then.. it was.. wait for it.. TULIPS. That’s right, everyone poured all over their money into tulip speculation.. some Tulips were worth more then a year’s wages. Of course, the bottom fell out when everyone woke up one day and realized they were just FLOWERS.

And so it goes.

I would suggest everyone read this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_depression

Especially before you start crying about the government spending $700B bailing out banks (and insurance companies (AIG) (Banks use insurance to store money)). This is exactly what Government didn’t do last time… and Ben Bernanke has spent most of his life studying the Great Depression.. strangely enough. Right or wrong, for better or worse.. that is what we are doing.. we shall see..

Anyway. This a seriously complex problem that I know very little about.. but I do find it interesting.. especially the fact that no one seems to know anything about it.

I had the privilege of going to a Seahawks’ game this weekend.

Highlights included:

1) Taking the train instead of sitting in drunk’n traffic.

2) Watching people come into the stadium pre-drunk.

3) The drunk people asking about what was going on in the game.

4) The drunk guy infront of us falling into other drunk people.

5) The drunk lady next to us falling on my friend.

6) The drunk people booing the Canadian national anthem. (I have never been so proud to be an American)

7) The drunk guy in front of us hitting his friend in the face while attempting a “high 5″.

Calculating the cost of getting drunk drinking $8 beers from small plastic cups.

9) The drunk people spewing obscenities and beer spittle at the refs and the drunk fans of the other team.

The game was pretty good too… and we had a great view of the city.

Another parenting milestone… Emily is off to school today.

How quickly they grow up.

Have fun Bub.